Long Term Evolution (LTE) as the next evolutionary technology of the 3rd generation mobile communication system known as Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service (UMTS) is designed to provide improved high speed packet data services based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM).
In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) TS36.304 and TS36.311, the speed-dependent parameters such as the number of cell reselections (applicable to the UE in idle mode) and the number of cell changes, e.g. handovers, (applicable to the UE in connected mode) are specified. According to these technical specifications, the mobility state of a UE is determined by comparing the number of cell reselections or cell changes measured during a specific time period counted, by a timer with a threshold value. However, the cell reselection and handover can occur even when the UE does not move. For instance, the handover is triggered for the purpose of load balancing, UE/user service profile adaptation, a UE capability adaptation, and Radio Resource Management (RRM), and this means that handover can occur regardless of the UE mobility. Although the handover occurs typically due to the movement of the UE, it is not always true that all the handovers are caused by the movement of the UE. For this reason, the conventional method for detecting the mobility state of the UE based on the number of cell reselections or handovers is likely to cause inaccuracy in the UE mobility state detection.